REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY
Pages: 272
Source:
Review copy from publisher in exchange for an honest review
Genre:
Middle Grade, Post-Apocalyptic, Animal Fantasy
From Goodreads:
In Casseomae's world, the wolves rule the Forest, and the
Forest is everywhere. The animals tell stories of the Skinless Ones, whose
cities and roads once covered the earth, but the Skinless disappeared long ago.
Casseomae is content to live alone, apart from the other
bears in her tribe, until one of the ancients' sky vehicles crashes to the
ground, and from it emerges a Skinless One, a child. Rather than turn him over
to the wolves, Casseomae chooses to protect this human cub, to find someplace
safe for him to live. But where among the animals will a human child be safe?
And is Casseomae threatening the safety of the Forest and all its tribes by
protecting him?
Middle-grade fans of post apocalyptic fiction are in for a
treat with this fanciful and engaging animal story by the author of the
Clockwork Dark trilogy.
My Thoughts:
This is one author who has that magical touch that allows
his animals to become somewhat human.
In a world where the humans are supposedly extinct, a bear and rat find themselves
protecting a child who fell from the sky.
When a flying craft crashes in the forest, Dumpster, a rat and Casseomae
find themselves the protector of the only survivor, a young boy. The animals of the forest call humans
the “skinless ones”. As you read
you realize they have many prejudices against humans based on what they have
heard from tales passed down. I
thought it interesting that Dumpster was the keeper of the memories. He is despised by others in the forest
because he lived among the humans.
Dogs are even lower on the list because they lived with the humans.
Knowing this small boy or cub as Casseomae calls him will
not harm them, she sets out to get him to safety. When word of the child reaches their leader Ogeema, he is
determined to kill the child. I
loved the bond between the bear and the boy. I loved the way Dumpster pretended he didn’t care about the
boy and that he was nothing but trouble.
His actions proved different. This reminded me of the movie “Ice Age” where the wooly
mammoth was determined to get the small boy back to his people.
I loved the writing style. Bemis did not tell the names of animals. He described them through the eyes of
the band of animals traveling together.
When Casseomae comes upon her first strange animal she described it as a
“strange deer. It had an
exceptionally long neck ….she could make out spots over its coat, large brown
blots against a field of tawny yellow.” (Page 193) It would have been so much easier to just say they saw the
carcass of a dead giraffe. His
descriptions showed the animals as intelligent but not all knowing. I had not read his previous trilogy The
Clockwork Dark, but will definitely do so
now. This is an author I will
proudly recommend to all of my students and parents.
Come back tomorrow for a guest post from the Author.
Come back tomorrow for a guest post from the Author.
GIVEAWAY
